Ben Roethlisberger still considers Antonio Brown ‘a good friend’

After a offseason full of negativity and critical comments about him from the media and some former teammates, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger finally broke his silence in an interview with Bob Pompeani of KDKA-TV aired on Monday.

Speaking on a range of subjects that included the breakdown in his relationship with Antonio Brown and offering an apology for the damage done by the criticisms he levelled at AB on his radio show, the interview offered very little of any real substance for those hoping for some calirifty about what really happened between the two players.

When asked how it felt to have his leadership openly questioned, while Roethlisberger left no doubt that he was offended by the accusations, his response was a rather generic one that failed to address any of the issues raised by former teammates. His definition of what leadership means perhaps not what most would think of if asked to describe what it means to them.

“They were hurtful. It was hurtful to myself. It was hurtful to my family. I always want to get better. I always strive to be the best that I can be and last year we weren’t good enough. We lost six games, we didn’t make the playoffs. So I need to, as a leader of that football team, because leadership ultimately is about winning football games and I didn’t do a good enough job of being a leader because we didn’t make the playoffs.”

Arguably the most surprising part of the interview was his remarks about the current state of his friendship with Brown, a response that would seem to suggest that the anger AB feels is not necessarily reciprocated by Roethlisberger.

“Sent him some messages, called him, I haven’t heard back, but I’m sure he’s getting busy with his season and getting ready as I am with the guys that we have here. But you know, I really am looking forward to reconnecting with him, talking, because like I said, he’s a good friend of mine. I still call him a good friend. And I hope that we can reconnect and I hope that our friendship can continue to grow.”

However, in light of the fact that Brown sent out a less than complimentary tweet just moments after the apology part of Roethlisberger's interview had aired during a preview, it appears that the Raiders new wide receiver might not quite feel the same way.